Repulsion

Roman Polanski’s first film in English (1965) is still his scariest and most disturbingnot only for its evocations of sexual panic, but also because his masterful employment of sound puts the audience’s imagination to work in numerous ways. Catherine Deneuve gives an impressive performance as a quiet and quietly mad beautician living with her older sister in London and terrified of men. When the sister and her boyfriend take off on a holiday, her fears and her isolation in the apartment are allowed to fester along with the uncooked food, with increasingly violent and macabre results. As narrative this works only part of the time, and as case study it may occasionally seem too pat, but as subjective nightmare it’s a stunning piece of filmmaking. 105 min. (JR) Read more